Happy Valentine's Day
by Leotron
Summary: They're both sick with the flu, everyone else is gone, and to top it all off it's Valentine's Day. Things don't look like they can get any weirder, but then again, anything was possible when Sheldon Cooper was involved.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

Penny never thought she would be spending her first Valentine's Day since getting together with Leonard without, well, _Leonard_.

But she could have especially never guessed who she would be spending it with.

"How did this happen?" Sheldon ranted on, seemingly unaware that Penny wasn't paying any attention. "I'm so careful with my health, I avoid physical contact with others in general principle..."

He suddenly stopped speaking, and she looked over at him. For a few seconds he sat there, frozen to the spot, and even though he was silent she could practically hear all the thoughts and connections forming in his head.

Finally...

"It was you!" he accused furiously, turning to glare at her from his spot on the couch. "You did this!"

Penny didn't know why she just didn't go to her apartment and suffer, considering being around Sheldon Cooper wasn't doing anything to help her get better. Maybe it was because they both were sicker than anything, and it was easier to be with someone with the flu than go through it alone.

But, all things considered, she regretted not staying in her room and sleeping it through. After all, if things continued the way they were going, she felt as if she might have to strangle him.

For a moment Penny almost felt bad, but then she went over everything that had happened. His continued eagerness to ruin her planned trip to Switzerland, his firm belief that Leonard should have taken him. With all of this occurring to her, she couldn't possibly find herself feeling guilty for making him sick.

She stared at him, her eyelids feeling heavier with each blink. "Happy Valentine's Day." she told him, just barely managing a half-triumphant smirk.

"You...You evil woman!" he continued, his frustration obviously growing with each word. "How dare you sabotage my trip? All I wanted to do was view CERN's Large Hadron Collider, yet you purposefully infect me in order to drag us both down!"

Penny took a sip of her soup, swallowing and feeling it sooth her soar throat. "Slow down, cowboy." she ordered calmly. "I didn't even know I was sick. Maybe _you_ gave it to _me_. You're supposed to be a genius. Ever think of that?"

"That isn't even a possibility!" replied Sheldon, throwing his hands up in the air in distinct frustration. He sounded stuffed up, but even then it couldn't mask his obvious annoyance. "You began showing symptoms approximately two hours before me. There's no fathomable way I could have given you the virus."

"Consider it karma, then." Penny said, feeling too tired to argue with him. Instead she stretched out onto the couch, resting her feet on the coffee table. Each movement just reminded her exactly how much her body ached.

"Lord, of all the people I get forced to experience contact with." muttered Sheldon, rolling his eyes and glancing up at the ceiling in irritation. He glared over at her, making a sweeping motion with his hands at her feet, telling her to put them on the ground. "It has to be you."

Penny refused to let herself get offended, and instead just looked lazily over at him. "News flash, Sherlock: No one is forcing you." She positioned her feet on the table again, past caring.

Sheldon just sat there a moment, seeming to process this new information. "You're right." he observed, appearing slightly startled. "Well then, I guess I'm free to leave if I wish."

As a follow through to his words, he stood up and grabbed his soup bowl from the coffee table, glaring down at her feet for a moment. With a little "Hmph" he walked confidently out of the main room of the apartment and disappeared down the hall.

Penny was glad for the silence, but soon found herself becoming bored with him gone.

* * *

><p>Knock. Knock. Knock.<p>

"Penny."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Penny."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Penny."

Penny mentally groaned, rolling onto her side in hopes that if she ignored the noise, it would go away. But a moment later she heard the door click open, and deep down she knew it was futile to pretend she was asleep.

Leonard had offered up his room for her to sleep in while he was gone, and there was no way she was going to refuse that proposal. That being said, at that precise second she wished she had just gone back to her apartment and slept in her bed.

After all, when she was there, she didn't have the risk of having Sheldon bother her in the middle of the night.

Light washed into the room from the open door, but she continued to keep her eyes closed.

"Penny, I'm afraid I'm unable to reach REM sleep."

Oh, Sheldon. Annoying, needy Sheldon. If she wasn't as sick as she was, she might have considered grabbing one of Leonard's action figures and beating him to death with it.

She reluctantly blinked open her eyes, her vision blurry from sleep. She glanced over at the clock. "Sheldon, it's midnight. Drink a warm glass of milk and try again."

"But Penny." He sounded more stuffed up than before. "I already tried that."

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" she asked, her voice muffled slightly as she buried her face deep into her pillow.

For a moment, there was silence.

"I'd prefer it if you'd come and sing Soft Kitty to me."

Penny considered her options. On one hand, she was curled up in her blankets, felt bad, and was as warm as could be. On the other, if she didn't get up and do what he wanted, he might never go away.

But then again, she _really_ didn't want to get up.

"Sheldon, I feel like shit." she finally told him. "There's no way in hell I'm going to get up and go sing to you in the middle of the night. Besides, I thought no one was allowed in your room?" Hopefully reminding him of that fact would get him to leave.

It didn't.

"I have decided to allow an exception for that whenever I am ill." he told her matter-of-factly. "And however am I supposed to reach my goal of sleep if you don't help relax me, Penny?"

She knew a _great_ way to relax him, one involving her fist connecting with his face. But she also knew that telling him that idea would just leave him confused, and she bit down onto her tongue so it wouldn't slip out.

Feeling every part of her body protest, she eventually gave in and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her head suddenly became dizzy, and she glared up at where Sheldon stood innocently in the doorway. "You owe me for this."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." he replied, making an attempt to breath through his nose but failing. He looked like he felt like he wanted to die, and she knew she probably didn't appear much better.

Penny stood up and slowly followed him to where he was walking to his bedroom, all the while dragging her feet.

"Penny, that isn't a very good habit to start." commented Sheldon over his shoulder. "I would suggest walking properly."

She didn't have the energy to flip him off, and instead just settled on not picking her feet up. When they reached his room, he immediately moved over to lie on his bed, in his usual position of on his back and staring up at the ceiling.

She swore he wasn't human.

Hesitantly sitting on the side of his bed, she already felt even more tired from the walk there, and decided not to waste anymore time. "Soft kitty, warm kitty-" she began, but he cut her off.

"-No." he interrupted. "You're singing it too fast."

"Sheldon, I'm sick." she snapped at him. "I'm not going to sit her and play this game with you."

He glared stubbornly over at her, but kept silent. She began again. "Soft kitty, warm kitty-"

"-Now it's too slow."

Penny felt her hands twitch, and she resisted the urge to wrap them around his throat. "Sheldon, I'm going to tell you this once. If you interrupt me again, I swear I'll infect you every time I feel so much as a cold coming on."

"Well, you've already done it once." he pointed out quietly, but shut up when he caught sight of the look she was giving him.

For a moment she just continued to stare at him, but then she began to sing again, hopefully for the last time. "Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur..." She felt herself begin to get sleepy as she recited the lyrics. "Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr..."

When she glanced down, Sheldon's eyes were closed and his mouth was open for him to breath, and she knew he must have been asleep. Glad that it didn't take that long, she made an attempt to stand up, but found that she was too tired to do so.

Without thinking, she slowly fell onto the bed and lay on her side, her eyes closing with every moment. She was so close to Sheldon that she could hear his steady breathing, but she didn't care.

It was then that sleep overwhelmed her. She didn't bother to resist.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

It was morning.

Penny could hear the sounds of cars zooming up and down the streets, and gentle tweets from birds outside the window slowly brought her back awake from her deep sleep.

She refused to open her eyes, and could feel a warm body pressed against her. Slowly, without thinking, she snuggled closer. Had Leonard come back early and decided to climb into bed with her? Or maybe some time had passed and she wasn't sick anymore.

But as she slowly regained consciousness, she became suddenly aware of the fact that this particular body felt a bit taller than Leonard's usually did. It was also noticeably lankier and skinnier.

The realization hit her like a wave and before she could think, she screamed.

Sheldon almost instantly awoke at the shrill noise, and he bolted up in his bed. Seeing her lying there, he yelled too, and scrambled to get out of bed but ended up falling onto the floor with a thud.

Penny pressed her hand over her mouth, wondering if he was okay or not. How could she have let this happen? She had been careless, too tired to go back to Leonard's room.

Before she could move to check on him, he had sprang up into a standing position and was glaring at her, looking frenzied.

"Penny, has dealing with the flu made you completely insane?" he asked her incredulously, but didn't wait to let her respond. "When I permitted to let you stay here, with much negotiating from Leonard, it never once occurred to me that you would try and commit coitus with someone such as myself!"

"_What_?" she asked him, her jaw dropping. "Is _that_ what you think I was doing?"

"Well, of course it is!" he answered, grabbing his robe from where it hung on the door and pulling it over his pajamas. "Due to your past history of sexual acts and your sure frustration that Leonard is away, it is only logical that you try to mate with the closest male within reach!"

Penny felt herself growing defensive, and her face suddenly became hot at his words. "Don't flatter yourself!" she told him fiercely. "I can't breathe, my head feels like it's about to explode, and my body aches like nothing else. Do you really think I would try to have sex right now?"

"Well, assuming your implication is true, then please explain what exactly you were doing in my bed."

"I...I..." Penny knew her excuse would sound lame, and he most likely wouldn't believe it, but the truth was better than nothing. "After I sang to you last night, I was so tired that I fell asleep here."

Sheldon attempted to snort, but it was futile considering his current state of health. "A likely story." he replied. "And do tell me, did flying pigs also sleep next to me last night?"

"Ugh!" Penny felt herself getting fed up, and she picked up the pillow from off of his bed and threw it at him. "You are such a condescending asshole!"

The pillow hit him square in the face and he gave her a fierce stare, which wasn't much considering who it was coming from. "And now you have the indecency to attack me!" he retorted. "Penny, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to excuse yourself out of my apartment."

She gaped at him for a few seconds, wondering which planet he had actually come from. Because no one, not anyone on the Earth, could have possibly given birth to someone as difficult and senseless as him.

Honestly, she felt a bit hurt that he was actually kicking her out for everything, even though she hadn't really meant to fall asleep on his bed. But, of course, she wasn't about to let him know it.

"You know what? Fine!" she huffed, moving from off of his bed and pulling her pajamas closer to her body. "But you'll miss me. I know you will." She then began to storm dramatically out of his bedroom and down the hall.

"Miss _you_?" asked Sheldon incredulously as he followed her. "Oh dear, it appears that you do have a rather nice sense of humor, Penny."

She didn't even bother to throw a glare over her shoulder as she stalked toward the door, already wanting to just go into her apartment and get away from him. Any place was better than there. She knew she had made a mistake thinking it would work.

Wordlessly she went over to the door the door, opened it and walked out, then promptly slammed it shut.

* * *

><p>It was noon before she heard anything from Sheldon again.<p>

When Penny had finally gotten settled in her apartment, all the while cursing the tall nerd under her breath, she got a tub of ice cream and proceeded to finish the whole thing off.

It wasn't something she normally did outside of breakups, eating all the ice cream, but she decided to make an exception. After all, she deserved an award for actually managing to spend a whole night alone in an apartment with Sheldon.

As she stabbed her spoon into the frozen treat, she could practically hear his overly-factual words ringing in her ears.

_Why Penny, it appears that you're eating chocolate ice cream. Did you know that chocolate comes from cocoa beans found primarily in the Americas?_

And she'd respond with something sarcastic that he wouldn't get like: _Yes, of course. I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory._

As she continued to think all of this, the jabs she was making at her ice cream became a little bit harder.

It was around that time that she heard the all too familiar knock.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Penny."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Penny."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Penny."

She reluctantly got up from her seat, still feeling awful, and flung open her door a bit more fiercely than she had intended. As expected, Sheldon was standing there in his robe, fidgeting slightly.

"Penny, I just wanted to inform you that I believe I was being a bit too rash back there." he told her after a long moment of silence.

She stared at him evenly, arching an eyebrow. "You think?"

"Yes. That's what I just told you."

She rolled her eyes at his lack of understanding of sarcasm, leaning onto the end of her door. "And what exactly do you want me to do now?" she asked, knowing good and well what he was getting at but just wanting to make him say it.

He fidgeted a little bit more. "Well, I'd appreciate it if you'd come back to my apartment." he answered.

"And why is that?" Okay, so maybe now she was just being mean.

"Penny, I'm lonely."

She considered dragging it on just a little bit more, just to see him get even more uncomfortable, but felt gracious right then. After a second of contemplation, she moved more into her apartment and motioned inside. "Get your ass in here and I'll make you some hot chocolate."

Sheldon hesitantly stepped inward, glancing around as if expecting something to jump out at him. He caught sight of the tub of ice cream sitting on her coffee table. "Why Penny, it appears that-"

"-If you start, I _will_ kill you." she interrupted him, not in the mood for his usual self.

He seemed to take her words seriously and shut up, instead sitting down onto one side of her couch.

She didn't hear a sound out of him until she was almost done making him his drink.

"Penny, why are there a bunch of tissues on and around the area of your couch?" asked Sheldon curiously, tentatively moving his foot to the side to avoid stepping on a particular one.

She didn't even glance up from what she was doing. "That's because they're used."

Almost instantly he bolted upright into a standing position, letting out half a scream as he did so. "And you let me _sit_ there?" he inquired, turning to look incredulously at where she stood.

"I'm sorry. I forgot how big of a germ freak you are. But we're both sick so it's okay." she told him, moving from around the counter and handing him his cup of hot chocolate. "Hopefully this will make up for it."

Sheldon stared down at his hot drink as if it might be infected too. "As far as I know, you could be carrying some other very real illness that I could acquire simply by being in this apartment."

"Or worse." Penny told him as she made herself comfortable. "I could have had _sex_ in this room."

It took a couple of moments for Sheldon to catch on, and he slowly sat on the edge of the couch, all the while lightly glaring in her direction. "Your attempt at humor isn't particularly funny, Penny." he informed her, but took a sip of his drink all the same.

"Really? I thought it was cute."

* * *

><p>All in all, it really wasn't that bad of a day.<p>

Penny managed to watch TV with Sheldon and not get fed up and strangle him in the process. She also found herself capable of sitting down and discussing things with him, even if he did make jabs at her being a "community college drop out" and "destined for caring for infants".

She even got through a whole hour of him trying to explain to her what he actually did at his job, and she made sure to nod and make a few noises even now and again. He didn't know the difference.

Finally, night was approaching and Sheldon stared blankly at the TV as they watched a movie.

"Penny, I'm not sure I understand this film at all." he said. "If Regina George is a 'mean girl', why on Earth would Cady choose to socialize with her?"

"To get revenge, Sheldon." she answered, already deep into the movie. "She's only pretending to be friends with her in order to get back at her."

Sheldon looked over at her. "I'm sorry Penny but you're not making any sense at all." He turned back to look at the screen. "This movie is defective. I want to pick one now."

She rolled her eyes, knowing he wouldn't shut up if she didn't let him do what he wanted. "Fine." she agreed. "What do you suggest we watch, then?"

He glanced at the watch on his wrist. "Well, I don't know about you but I think there's still enough time to watch _Back to the Future_ from beginning to end, don't you think? Granted, bathroom breaks would have to be kept at a minimum."

Now it was Penny's turn to stare blankly. "What's that about?"

Sheldon looked at her wide-eyed, silent for a few moments. "You've never seen _Back to the Future_?" he finally managed to ask.

"No. Is that a bad thing?"

"Dear Lord, Penny, you're even worse than I had initially thought." He stood up abruptly and made for the door. "But perhaps there's still hope..."

Leaving her on that notion, he disappeared out of her apartment and didn't return until a couple of minutes later. When he did, his right hand holding a DVD container, he preceded to move toward the TV.

As he pressed the DVD in and began to work with the remote, she glanced down at the box. "This looks lame. Why does the car have suicide doors, anyways? It says here on the back that the movie was made in the eighties."

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "Shh, Penny. And, for your information, it has gullwing doors."

She begrudgingly kept quiet as he pressed "Play" and they began to watch the movie. Occasionally she'd ask him a question, but for the most part they both just stayed silent as they watched.

As the film dragged on and on and finally the end was approaching, Penny found herself getting tired. "Ha. It's funny because the mother still doesn't know who he is." she said, but Sheldon wasn't paying any attention.

"Penny, I told you to be quiet."

"Ha. It's funny because the genius still doesn't know I don't care."

He shot her a sideways glare and clenched his jaw in annoyance, but didn't take the bait. Instead he continued to watch the movie, and Penny noted that he also seemed to be getting a bit sleepy himself.

He leaned against the back of the couch, his eyelids slowly beginning to fall. Soon enough they were shut, and she was left to stare at him in awe. Sheldon, sleeping somewhere other than his bed? With an awake stranger in the room? Impossible.

She poked him. "Sheldon?"

He didn't move.

Apparently it was very possible.

For a moment she considered to do something mean, like a juvenile sleepover prank. Dipping his hand in water would work, but she knew that if he woke up and saw that he had pissed on himself, he would have a heart attack from the uncleanliness of it all.

So, instead of that, she just chose to simply draw on his face.

She had to dig through one of the drawers for a marker to use, and also to make sure he wasn't going to wake up at the slightest noise or touch. He seemed like a light sleeper, but as it turned out the fact that he was ill gave her an advantage. He didn't wake up even when she ended up accidentally slamming the drawer closed.

After she knew everything was set, she didn't waste anytime.

And five minutes later Sheldon Cooper was complete with a drawn mustache and a goatee. When she was done, she capped the marker and smirked, glancing down at the label.

Permanent.

Uh oh.

She froze, knowing she couldn't possibly scrub his face because he surely wasn't _that_ big of a heavy sleeper, even when sick, and she couldn't rub it off. No other ideas came to mind, and inside she began to panic.

But after a moment she forced herself to calm down, and in the end it was clear that she would just have to deal with whatever he would do when he woke up.

Sitting back down on the couch, she looked at the screen. The credits were rolling, and she blinked. So tired.

Almost instinctively she leaned back into the couch, right next to where he slept, still oblivious to her putting graffiti all over his face. She found her eyes beginning to close, and she didn't try to prevent it.

She also didn't try to stop her head from moving over to rest on his shoulder, or for her arm to wrap around his body and snuggle closer to the warmth.

And for the second time that in two days she was so close to Sheldon that she could hear his steady breathing, but that time not only did she hear it, but felt it as his chest rhythmically rose up and down.

And also for the second time in two days, she fell asleep next to him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

Unfortunately for her, this time she didn't wake up first.

She felt two hands shove her to the side in the middle of her sleep, and faintly heard yelling. Slumping to the other corner of the couch, she finally decided to blink open her eyes. For a moment her vision was blurry, but then her eyes adjusted.

Sheldon was standing near the sink, running the water from the faucet and frantically splashing it in his face. She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, watching him all the while she began to fully wake up.

"Sheldon, what are you doing?" she asked after a moment.

"Getting rid of the germs." he answered between one of his splashes. "Penny, you _drooled_ on me!"

He suddenly turned to face her, and up until that moment she had forgotten about the drawings she had covered his face with. The only good thing it did was make her completely awake, and she stared wide-eyed in his direction.

"And to imagine that I almost believed you yesterday!" ranted Sheldon, mostly talking to himself. "You are a very hormonal controlled female. Of course you would try and mate with me!"

"Sheldon."

"Why have I been so oblivious?" he continued on, seemingly unaware that she had spoken. "Perhaps this particular flu has somehow done something to my mental state, causing my brain to take longer to completely process situations..."

"Sheldon."

"But why did I so easily accept your excuses?" Nothing was going to stop him. He appeared to have forgotten the fact that he had blown up in her face over the events of the night before. "Dear Lord, I must go see a medical doctor as soon as possible!"

He made for the door, but there was no way Penny was going to let him go outside with the markings all over his face. She moved in front of him, causing him to take an abrupt step back.

"Sheldon, look." she told him, digging from her purse a small mirror and handing it over to him.

He narrowed his eyes, but hesitantly took the mirror and glanced down. She watched as his face contorted dramatically to a look of pure and utter shock. "How...Why...Are _you_ the cause of this...this juvenile prank?" he asked her.

Penny nodded, forcing herself not roll her eyes. "You fell asleep during the movie so I decided to draw on your face. I got tired and fell asleep too, and it just worked out that it was right next to you. That's all that happened, you see. I swear."

He peered at her skeptically for a few moments, his head turned to the side and his chin raised slightly in defiance. "Will this marker wash off?" he finally asked her.

She gulped, not particularly wanting to tell him but knowing it wouldn't be fair to him if she didn't. Besides, it's not like she could have lied, he would eventually find out. "Uh...well...it said it was permanent."

"Penny!"

"I'm sorry!" she apologized defensively. "I didn't realize it until I was done."

Sheldon glared at her. "However am I supposed to remove this graffiti from my face, then?"

Penny wasn't sure what to tell him. She felt bad for putting him in the situation, considering she knew how much things like that bothered him. But, in her own defense, it just seemed like a good idea at the time. And it wasn't like Sheldon didn't deserve a bit of chaos in his life.

That being said, she didn't have any idea how he would be able to manage to get it off. "I could wash your face for you and scrub it really hard...if you want." The offer wasn't much.

He also seemed to know this. "Well, that just makes this whole catastrophe quite peachy, doesn't it? Now that I'm aware you can just _scrub it off_, I guess I have no fathomable reason to care!"

She stared at him. "Since when do you say the word 'peachy'?"

He blinked, scowling, and sighed dramatically. "You really are hopeless, Penny." he told her. "Now please escort me to wherever you want to make a futile attempt to rid my face of your terrible drawings."

Rolling her eyes and biting back a retort, she pointed in the direction of her bathroom. "This way." she said, a sarcastic cheery tone in her voice. She led the way as they walked toward the hall and finally reached their destination.

"Sit on the edge of the bathtub." she ordered without glancing back, and she could see in the mirror Sheldon looking around, grabbing a towel and wiping the surface of the tub before he dared to sit.

She grabbed a small bath cloth and a bar of soap, finally going over to sit next to him. Turning the faucet on and running the cloth through the warm water, she rubbed the soap through it once and attempted to reach for him.

He flinched back. "Penny, what are you doing?"

She moved a little bit away, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Touching your face...?"

"I'm sorry Penny, but no one can touch my face."

She took a deep breath, willing all her patience to help her out in the situation she was currently in. "Sheldon, I have to touch your face in order to erase all the markings, okay?"

There was silence for a moment.

"I'm still sorry Penny, but no one can touch my face."

She stared at him for a while, sitting innocently on the edge of the tub in his robe, his face covered with a fake mustache and goatee. Finally, when she knew he wasn't expecting it, Penny lunged at him.

She grabbed hold of his shoulder with her left hand and brought up her right, holding the cloth tightly in her grip. Feeling him start to protest, she quickly ran it over his face before he could do anything.

"Penny!...What are you doing...? Stop it!...I've changed my mind! It's getting in my eye!"

She finally had to cease her actions when he said that. Moving back, she saw with satisfaction that the black markings look a lot more faded than they did before. That being said, they still weren't completely gone.

Sheldon was frowning at her, his face slightly pink from how hard she had to rub it. "That really was quite unnecessarily brutal." he informed her indignantly. "You have the hands of Tarzan."

"Aw...so you've seen that movie?" asked Penny, too caught off guard to care that he was angry. "I didn't think you knew about anything to do with pop culture."

"When you grow up in the house I did, you are forced to watch completely aimless movies with tasteless plotlines and lack of decent character development." he explained, seeming to want to shudder at the memory. "Like that horrid _Mean Girls_ film you imposed on me."

Penny couldn't help but crack a smile at his serious tone. "What are you talking about? Tarzan was one of my favorites while I was growing up." She hesitantly reached up to scrub his face once more, and was surprised to find that he didn't protest this time. "That and _The Little Mermaid_."

"Yes. Because it is utterly convincing that a mermaid would, as the silly term goes, _fall in love_ with a human man just simply by looking at him." Sheldon replied, rolling his eyes as he did so. "Complete rubbish, if you ask me."

"Well, it's probably a good thing I didn't." she retorted, chuckling slightly as she wiped his face, this time her movements more gentle than from before. She shook her head. "You really don't understand love, do you, Sheldon?"

He arched an eyebrow, an almost confused expression appearing onto his face. "Of course I do." he answered after a moment. "What's there to understand, exactly? Love is an affectionate emotion humans get toward other humans and occasionally a pet or, quite possibly, themselves."

She shook her head again, this time feeling slightly bad for him. "Oh, honey, you really don't know a thing." She ran the cloth across his cheek. "Tell me, Sheldon, have you ever loved someone?" she asked, mostly just out of pure curiosity.

"I love my mother, and my sister, and I suppose my brother." he answered after a moment of contemplation.

Penny looked at him. "I wasn't talking about that kind of love. I meant, have you ever been _in love_ with somebody before?"

Sheldon laughed, or at least what was considered a laugh for him. It was just his usual half-snort half-chuckle. "Now you're just being absurd, Penny."

"That's so sad, Sheldon." she told him honestly. "Your mind is just so made up, isn't it?"

"Of course. Because I'm right."

She dipped the cloth under the water once more, working on his face again. "Mark my words, one day you'll meet a girl and fall head over heels for her."

He looked confused once again. "But isn't my head already over my heels?" Apparently the popular phrasing had never really reached him that well. "What about heels over head? Now that would be something to converse about."

She rolled her eyes, deciding it would just be best to leave him alone. Instead she leaned back and admired her work. His face was now completely clear of any of the black markings she had put on him the night before, though his skin was still slightly pink.

"You're done." she told him finally, standing up and beginning to put away the things she had pulled out to help her erase the marker. "You know, I think I feel better today than I did yesterday."

He straightened up and stared at himself in the mirror, turning his face from side to side. "I'm afraid your attempt to strike up a casual conversation with me to try and belittle what you did will not work."

Penny only smiled at his paranoia, and walked over to where he stood. "Looks like you caught me, ole' Shelly boy!" she said and, for emphasis, she placed her hands on his shoulder and shook him lightly.

This enticed a scowl from him. "My name is _Sheldon_, and please refrain from touching me ever again."

"Sure thing, Shelly."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

Penny's "attempt to strike up a conversation with him to try and belittle what she did", or so Sheldon claimed, seemed to actually have some substance to it.

Throughout the rest of the day she noticed herself becoming slightly less congested and feverish, and she could tell by his movements that Sheldon was also slowly getting better.

By that late evening, they both seemed in rather decent health, though still feeling rather cruddy compared to normal.

"Penny, I really don't think it would be wise for me to sleep her once again tonight." Sheldon informed her as he began to gather up a couple of his things. "Another accident might occur."

Penny followed him as he made his way through her whole apartment, watching his every move. "But why? We'll both go to bed early so it won't happen."

"That wouldn't completely insure that a repeat of events wouldn't fall into place." he said matter-of-factly, finishing his sweep of the place and turning to face her, standing in the middle of her living room. "Besides, I intend to go to work tomorrow and in order for me to do that I will have to sleep in my own home tonight."

Penny bit back another protest, wondering why she wanted him to stay so much, anyways. Deep down she knew that she was going to miss his company, even though she would never admit that to anyone.

"Who's going to drive you, though?" she finally asked, giving up and accepting the fact that he was going to leave. "Leonard is on vacation."

Sheldon stared at her for a moment. "I was under the impression that you would."

"Me? Why?" She attempted to breath through her nose and, unsurprisingly, found herself stuffed up, though less than before. "I'm still sick."

"I calculated that by tomorrow your fever and congestion will be reduced by a decent amount, therefore giving you the energy to drive me to work and, of course, back to my apartment when the time comes."

Penny rolled her eyes, moving to sit down on the couch. "You know, the polite thing would have been to ask me." she replied. "Instead of, you know, just assuming that I would do it for you."

Sheldon huffed, shaking his head. "No, no, no." he argued. "Since you are the one who infected me with the flu virus, it is only to be expected for you to do a favor for me, such as driving me to and from work until Leonard returns from Switzerland."

"Sheldon, you do realize that there's no proof that I'm the one who had it first?" she questioned, arching an eyebrow and folding her arms across her chest. She propped up her feet on the coffee table.

"Of course you had it first." he told her. "How else would I have gotten sick? I'm always extremely observant in my good hygiene and the only plausible explanation for my recent illness is that you transferred it to me from when we embraced."

Penny smirked up at him. "Oh yeah, about that...strange that you actually hugged someone, isn't it, Shelly?"

"I'd like to inform you that because of recent developments, I will refrain from ever getting into such a close proximity with you again." he retorted indignantly. "And don't call me Shelly."

She smirked, glancing him up and down. "I can't make any promises."

"I wasn't expecting you to." he replied, looking down at her for a moment before finally making his way toward the door. "Now make sure that you're dressed and ready by seven o' clock tomorrow morning."

"No promises there either."

* * *

><p>Despite her uncertain attitude from before, Penny forced herself to get up early and drive Sheldon to work. She wasn't going to a fashion show, and chose not to dress like she was either.<p>

Instead she just threw on a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, putting her hair up and not bothering to wear any make-up. When she finally met the tall nerd in the hall, complete with his day clothes and bag, he seemed to notice all of this.

"Penny, I told you to be dressed and ready." he finally told her after a moment's pause, mindlessly playing with the strap on his bag. "Would you like to go back? We still have approximately ten and a half minutes of extra time."

"This is the best you're going to get, sweetie." she said, putting up a half-assed attempt to motion toward herself. She took a sip of the bottle of coffee she had brought along with her. "Why did you give us ten extra minutes, anyways?"

"Well, I figured you wouldn't actually follow my instructions and that would ultimately put us at least three minutes behind schedule. I also factored in the chance you might drive slowly due to the fact that you're health, or lack there of, is still abnormal." he answered as they descended down the stairs.

She rolled her eyes, but left it at that.

When they reached and climbed into her car, Penny pulled out of the apartment's parking lot and onto the street. She was glad to find that silence encompassed around the vehicle for a good while. She almost thanked for her good fortune of what seemed to be the prediction of a completely quiet car ride until...

"Penny?"

She resisted the urge to close her eyes in annoyance, knowing that if she did there would definitely be some form of accident. "What is it?" she asked Sheldon through gritted teeth.

"Were you really inadvertently falling asleep in my presence or was that just a quick lie you came up with?" questioned Sheldon. "It's okay. There is no need to feel uncomfortable in telling me the truth. I will take in account that you were ill and the flu might have been affecting your brain."

She felt her hands tighten around the steering wheel. "Why would I lie about something like that?" She took another sip of her coffee, getting irritated once more.

"I have no idea." he answered in a sincerely innocent tone. "Perhaps because you found yourself feeling insecure and regretful of your actions. Or maybe because society deems it inappropriate and embarrassing. Or it could be simply because of the fact that you knew I would never willingly sleep with you."

Penny felt the familiar sensation of a blush rising up onto her cheeks, and she felt herself getting uncomfortable. Surely he couldn't not know what his words just sounded like? Come on, everyone had to be able to pick up on that.

Except maybe Sheldon.

"It wasn't a lie." she finally said, glancing over at where he sat comfortably in the passenger's seat. "I was just really tired both nights. Why would I want to sleep with you, anyways?"

"I don't think I could reasonably answer that question, but perhaps you find my presence comforting."

She couldn't help but letting out a laugh at that. "Your presence? Comforting? _Really_?" she asked him incredulously.

It was then that she noticed that they had now reached the university. She pulled up to the familiar building and moved through the parking lot toward the main front doors, part of her relieved that the conversation would be ending. The whole ride had seemed to be awkward, at least for her.

Scratch that. The whole entire situation had been awkward. Valentine's Day, being sick with him, falling asleep with him, _everything_.

He didn't address her disbelief. "My intelligence does make me a rather good partner in survival, especially in such situations as a zombie attack. Maybe you subconsciously felt safe."

"Yeah. Maybe. I'm sure that's it." she agreed, mostly to shut him up. She didn't bother to keep the sarcasm out of her voice though, knowing he wouldn't be able to pick up on it anyways. Rolling her eyes, she stopped the car. "Off you go, I guess." she said after a moment.

He moved over and opened the door, stepping outside. "Goodbye, Penny." he told her. "And thank you for the ride. Perhaps tonight we can watch more films once I get off of work."

Her jaw dropped slightly. "Are you suggesting that we actually spend time together?"

"Well, why not?" He gave a light shrug and half a smile. "We've slept together, haven't we?"

She didn't know what to say to that, and just stared at him for a few moments. Finally, she blinked and returned his smile. "Yeah." she answered. "I guess we have."

Sheldon straightened up to his full height. "Well, I'll be waiting here in a few hours. Don't be tardy."

Penny smirked a little. "Okay." she said. "But no promises, though."

He glanced up at the sky but didn't say anything else, instead turning and beginning to walk toward the building. She watched him leave and started the car back up once he disappeared through the doors.

As she began to drive home, she couldn't help but hoping that Leonard would stay in Switzerland for just a tad bit longer than he was planning to.

After all, maybe she could find out if it was really true that he would _never_ willingly sleep with her. In a completely innocent way, of course. Because she had no desire to sleep with him in any other sense.

At least she didn't think she did.

She glanced up at her rearview mirror, catching sight of his workplace in the background. She smiled slightly, and then turned her eyes back to the road.

Maybe she didn't get to spend her first Valentine's Day with Leonard with, well, him.

But now that she thought about it, that wasn't such a bad thing after all.

The End


End file.
